I Live in Your Basement
by waters22
Summary: A book about this kid named Marco who goes through psychological paranoia after getting smacked over the head with a bat, thanks to this boy named Keith. This time, however, the twist ending is different.
1. Chapter 1

**So basically, this is the same book with a few changes. Honestly, this book is easily the most underrated of the whole Goosebumps series. I really like how R.L. Stine tried something different and implemented psychological fear inside the reader with a huge mind-fuck rather than some cheesy scares from many of the previous books. Now my only gripe about this book is that I wish it would've gone longer, and the twist ending. I mean I get that Keith dreaming he was Marco is someone looking in another person's perspective, and that explains the ending of the novel, but still, I'd prefer if the story focused more on Marco since it would be interesting if he survives through his hallucinations or not. So this is how I would re-write the ending. I don't own Goosebumps, so let's get started. Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

I don't know how long I screamed for. I had finally stopped when the ugly inside out monster finally started talking.

"Now I'll make sure you take good care of me, Marco!" Keith said in a gravelly voice. "You're going to take care of me for the rest of your life!"

I didn't move. I couldn't move. I was actually staring at Keith's insides, similar to how I saw Gwynnie turn inside out in my dream. _Why don't Mom and Gwynnie hear me?_ I thought. _Can they not hear this monster? Can't they not hear me screaming? Why won't they come already?_

I was now in a dilemma. I didn't know what to do. I wasn't sure if I was in a dream or if I'm really awake. I could only stare as the ugly, yellow monster stared back at me. Its thick, purple veins throbbing around its slimy skin. Just staring at those veins made my head throb. I watched as it slowly approach me.

"Let's go, Marco," he gurgled. "I know you'll take great care of me."

As soon as he finally closed in on me, I finally made my move and leapt onto my bed. I didn't know if I was dreaming or not. But either way, I surely wasn't going to just let this monster attack me. I stood on my bed and took a mighty jump on the mattress and over the monster.

I landed with a thud and darted out of the bedroom. The hallways were dark and grim, and the air was as cool as the inside of the refrigerator. As I made a run for the stairs, I heard Keith's voice echo through the halls.

"You can't run from me, Marco!" he bellowed menacingly. "I'm going to make sure you take good care of me!"

Seriously, why can't Mom and Gwynnie hear any of this? Gwynnie's room was right next door to my room, and my mom's room was just across the hall closer to the bathroom. I ran down the stairs and made my way in the living room.

I leaned against the sofa and struggled to catch my breath. I began to sweat. My head throbbed some more. I could feel my heart pounding rapidly as if someone was drilling a hole through my chest. I looked around the living room. It was mostly all grim and dark, except for the moonlight shining outside through the curtains. The shadows of the furniture around the living room towered around the walls. I felt as if I was entering a cave. With no one around but the strange creatures after me. This wasn't a dream. This was a nightmare! A real life nightmare that I knew I wasn't asleep for! I had just about caught my breath when I saw a moving shadow tower above me.


	2. Chapter 2

I looked up to see Keith! He was now in his human form once again, wearing the creepiest smile ever!

"You can't run from me, Marco," he told me. "I own you. I control you. You're gonna take care of me for the rest of your life!"

He walked slowly down the stairs in an ominous manner. I can only watch as he slowly approached me.

"Seriously, what do you want from me?" I asked breathlessly. "Why are you stalking me?!"

"Because you're gonna take care of me," Keith replied. "I told you, I live in your basement!"

With one hand, he reached out to grab me. But I quickly pulled away from his reach and duck away from him. I dashed through the living room and made my way through the hallway.

When I finally made it inside the den, I turned around to find Keith right behind me. I cried out in shock.

"H-how did you g-get here?!" I demanded. "You were just in the living room!"

"I appear everywhere, Marco," Keith said, his evil smile spreading across his face and his cold, cyan eyes staring back at me. "I got the power to transport into wherever I go. I told you, Marco. You can't run from me!"

But I continued to dart out of the den and ran through the hallways. My head throbbed as I picked up the pace.

I then came into the kitchen, looking around. Keith was all over the place now, and there was no telling where he might appear next. To my surprise, however, Keith didn't appear. Instead, I could hear his voice through the house.

"You will be my slave, Marco," Keith said in a low voice that seemed to echo through the house. Where were Mom and Gwynnie? Could they not hear Keith speaking out loud? Why didn't they wake up from all of this?

"I literally control you!" Keith continued, his voice echoing through the house. "I control your mind! I will make sure you take care of me!"

"What do you want from me, Keith?!" I shouted.

"I told you - I want you to take care of me!" Keith's voice bellowed. "I live in your basement!"

I couldn't take this anymore. I dashed out of the kitchen and ran through the house. It were as if I was trapped inside of a cave with no way out. I headed to the basement door and dashed inside. I ran down the stairs and decided I could escape through the basement window to search for a payphone to call the police. Maybe they'll take care of Keith for me. As I made my way to the bottom of the basement, I looked around. It was cold and dark. The walls were barely visible, and the moonlight reflected through the window, shining a bright, white light on the floor. I could feel my heart pumping. My feet felt cold on the linoleum floor. My head throbbing. Sweat pouring through my face. I swept my dark hair back as I struggled to catch my breath.

Silence. There wasn't a single sound heard through the basement, except for the sound of my heart pumping. I had a bad feeling about this. Keith seemed to appear everywhere. I could already tell he was probably going to be right behind me. I took a deep breath and darted towards the window. With one foot, I began to climb up the wall and made my way towards the window. I pushed a little. Then I pushed again. I later used both hands to push it with all my might. It wouldn't budge. I felt my head throbbing as I struggled to push the window. But before I could push any more, I heard heavy breathing behind me. I slowly turned around and cried out as I saw Keith standing behind me - an evil smile spreading across his face!


	3. Chapter 3

"Did you miss me, Marco?" Keith asked in a sinister tone.

I knew that enough was enough now. I wasn't going to solve any of this by running away. I had to ask Keith a few more questions.

"Seriously, Keith, how did you even get into my life in the first place?!" I asked hopping down the linoleum floor to my feet as I faced him.

"Don't you remember?" Keith replied. "The day you got hit on the head with a bat."

"Huh?" I was confused.

"Here," Keith told me. "I'll show you everything that happened to refresh your memory."

He held his hand to the blank wall in front of us and a film screen magically formed.

"This is the day you got hit," Keith told me as I watched a clip of me eating breakfast at the table with Gwynnie and my mom putting the dishes in the dishwasher.

* * *

 _"But mom," I asked in the clip. "Why can't I play softball with the others?"_

 _"Because you could get hurt," Mom told me in the clip. "You could break every bone in your body. Now I don't want to hear another word from you, Marco. The discussion is final."_

I saw myself grumble while munching on my cereal.

 _"Yeah, Marco," Gwynnie teased me in the clip. "You could get hit on the head and lose your brain." She giggled._

 _"Gwynnie, please don't tease your brother," Mom scolded her in the clip._

 _"Sorry, Mom," Gwynnie said in the clip giggling._

 _"I wish you weren't my sister," I muttered under my breath in the clip._

* * *

I stared back, feeling guilty to myself that I would actually say that about my own sister.

"Oh, but it gets even better," Keith told me. "This is you after school walking home with your best friend."

I then saw a clip of me and Jeremy walking home.

* * *

 _"So your mom told you to not use your pencils because you might poke your eye out?" Jeremy asked in the clip. I nodded._

 _Jeremy then started laughing. "What does she want you to use, crayons?" Jeremy asked jokingly in the clip._

 _In the clip, I laughed sarcastically. "This is serious, Jeremy," I told him in the clip. "My mom is very overprotective of me. She keeps on thinking of new ways I might hurt myself. She never even lets me and Gwynnie watch too many movies because she feels it would damage our brains and ruin our eyes. Next, she probably might tell me not to breathe so much, or I'll break my nose."_

 _"Well in all seriousness, your mom's just looking out for you," Jeremy told me in the clip._

 _"Well does she always have to keep me from doing everything to do so?" I asked in the clip._

I watched the clip showing me and Jeremy making it to my house.

 _"I'll be back, Jeremy," I told him. "I have to change in my sports clothes."_

* * *

I watched myself run into the house and look around. "So where exactly were Mom and Gwynnie when this happened?" I asked Keith.

"Your mother was grocery shopping," Keith answered, "and your sister was with her friends walking to the store. Now here's where you and Jeremy went to the baseball diamond."

* * *

I watched as I saw myself wearing a white T-shirt over baggy, faded jeans and a red-and-white baseball cap.

"You and Jeremy were teammates," Keith told me.

* * *

I continued watching the clip of the other kids playing baseball and the bases were loaded on my team. One of the girls hit a home run and each player made their way to home plate. I watched Jeremy practicing his swing with a wooden bat.

 _"I'm gonna hit this one out of the park," he said in the clip._

I also saw myself standing next to Jeremy as the latter took another swing with the bat.

 _"Jeremy, wait!" I told him in the clip. "You forgot about-"_

But I didn't get to finish, because as Jeremy swung the bat, it swung counter-clockwise and made a loud _THUNK_ as it smacked me on the right side of my head, the impact knocked my baseball cap off my head and me to the ground. As I watched myself hit the ground, Jeremy let out a loud cry in horror as he dropped the bat, and I began to scream in pain in the clip as my eyes started to roll behind my head.

* * *

I began to cringe just watching myself getting hit on the head with a bat. I watched as Jeremy kneeled besides me as I lay unconscious on the grass.

* * *

 _"Marco!" Jeremy cried out in the clip gently slapping my face trying to wake me up. "Marco!"_

I saw the panic in Jeremy's face as he put his hand on his head and ran a hand through his mini afro. I saw his face filled with worry and hesitation.

 _"Somebody call an ambulance!" Jeremy cried out. "Somebody call an ambulance!"_

Kyle, one of the Franklin twins, kneeled beside me and pressed his palm on my chest.

 _"He's still breathing," he reported in the clip._

 _"That means he's just unconscious!" Jeremy said in the clip. "I need you guys to stay with him! I'm going to go get help!"_

I watched Jeremy run away as the rest of the kids circled around me. Then, I saw a familiar boy walking towards my unconscious body. Keith! Somehow, the other kids didn't even see him as he stared down at me.

 _"You're going to be okay, Marco," he said in a deep, quiet voice. "Because you're going to take care of me for now on. I now live in your basement."_

I watched in horror as he shape-shifted into a ghost and entered the inside of my head.


	4. Chapter 4

As Keith finally ended the clip, I stared back at him in horror. "Y-y-y-you entered my head while I was unconscious?" I stammered still feeling horrified. I couldn't believe Keith had literally been in my head.

"That's right, Marco," Keith answered in a menacing tone. "Let me tell you a bit more about myself. You see, I'm made to get into the heads of anyone who experiences a concussion of any kind. What happens is that anyone who gets knocked out with a single blow on the head will experience any hallucinations or dream sequence that I'd screw around with."

My head was beginning to throb. I was just so confused now. "Huh?"

"I control the minds of the unconscious, Marco," Keith explain. "I've done this to many of my victims in each generation! I'm that powerful! I attack them psychologically!"

My head was now spinning. I just couldn't believe what I was hearing at this point, much less what I just witnessed in the clip. Keith was actually in my head - literally! He had been screwing with my head while I was unconscious! I was feeling pretty dirty at this point! I was quickly losing my train of thought!

"Do you remember when I told you that I have the power to get inside people's dreams?" Keith asked me. I nodded, still staring at Keith rather nervously.

"Well," he continued, "when you were knocked out unconscious, it gave me the ability to get inside your head and screw around in your dreams while you were unconscious. I changed everything in your dreams, Marco. I replaced your sister with a dog named Tyler because you said you didn't want a sister. I made your sister, who wasn't your sister in your dream, responsible for your head injury. I made the doctor try to take your brain out. I appeared on your computer screen. I caused all those hallucinations in your dream."

I started to feel sick. Keith has been screwing with my mind all along! He has been digging inside my brain and scaring me psychologically! He has caused my mother to believe that I was going crazy! He seemed to take sadistic pleasure into taking advantage of my mental state of mind! My head began to throb some more. I couldn't shake the bizarre events my mind was suffering at this point. I wasn't sure if I was ever going to make it out of this ordeal alive. It certainly wasn't helped by that incredibly creepy smile of his. My eyes hurt just staring at it.

"In fact, I'll show you a certain victim of mines that experienced the same horror you're going through," Keith told me. "Do you remember the year 1986?"

 _1986?_ I thought. "I don't quite remember that year very well," I answered in a low, trembling tone. "I was only a toddler."

"Well, welcome back to the past, Marco," Keith told me. "Oh this will be so good."

He held his hand to the blank wall. The screen came up to show the baseball diamond in the year 1986.


	5. Chapter 5

"Recognize that woman?" Keith asked me as he showed me a familiar looking woman with a large hairstyle sitting on the bottom of the bleachers in the clip.

* * *

She was holding a baby in her hands, and a boy with short, black hair about a year old sitting adjacent to her. Mom! I realized that I was staring at my mom! I also realized the baby she was holding was Gwynnie, and the toddler sitting right next to her was me!

* * *

"Mom?" I asked.

"That's right, Marco," Keith answered. "That's your mother watching a softball game on the same diamond you got smacked in the head in."

* * *

I then watched as a young man who looked somewhere in his mid-late 20s with black hair covered with a red-and-white baseball cap and dark brown eyes wearing a red-and-white stripe T-shirt over slim-fitted blue jeans was practicing his swing in the clip.

* * *

"That guy look familiar to you?" Keith asked me.

I took one closer look at the man in the clip. He looked like an older version of myself. My mom's cheering for the man gave him away.

* * *

 _"Hit it out of the park, honey!" My mom yelled in the clip._

The man in the clip turned around and smiled back at my mom.

 _"That's my hubby!" Mom told everyone else on the bleachers. "He's the best player on the team! He's going to hit this one out of the park!"_

* * *

My dad! I realized that the man in the clip was my dad!

"That's my father, isn't it?" I asked Keith.

"Just keep watching," Keith told me. "It gets better."

* * *

I watched the clip as my dad walked to the home plate.

 _"Yeah!" he cried out. "I'm gonna show you guys how a real man hits the ball! Give me your best shot!"_

I watched as the pitcher had a grim look on his face. The pitcher was a big, beefy guy wearing a black-and-red baseball T-shirt over faded jeans. With all his might, he heaved a knuckle ball to the plate. Or at least it seems as if he were aiming at the plate.

The ball zipped fast and hit my dad hard on the left side of the head. The impact knocked him down to the ground, and he lay there unconscious. The other players circled around him.

 _"Oh no!" Mom wailed in the clip._

* * *

Watching my dad get hit on the side of the head with a softball in the clip made me cringe even more - and my head to throb. With Gwynnie still in her arms, my mom rushed over to the field and tried to squeeze through the circle of players.

 _"Honey?" Mom said kneeling down to my unconscious father. "Can you hear me? Are you still okay?!_

* * *

"So I think it's time to fast-forward to the good stuff," Keith said as I watched a clip of my dad taking a shower.

* * *

My father stepped out and wrapped a dry towel around his waist. He cried out when he turned around and stared at Keith.

 _"Who are you?!" Dad asked in the clip._

 _"I'm the boy who lives in your basement," Keith said in the clip._

 _"Well go home!" Dad snapped at him. "It isn't nice for you kids to sneak into strangers' house like that. I ought to call your parents!"_

 _Keith just snickered in the clip. "Not until I show you something," he uttered._

Before I knew it, the clip showed Keith gradually opening his mouth, which grew wider and wider. I stared in horror as I watched his organs slowly slide out. I also watched the horror in my dad's face as the inside out creature slowly motioned towards him. My dad uttered a terrifying scream and attempted to run away. But before he could reach the doorknob, the inside out creature pulled onto my father's ankle, causing him to trip on his stomach.

My father began screaming, calling for help as the creature slowly dragged him inside its mouth. And to my horror, I saw the creature eating through his skin. It started with my father's legs, chewing noisily through the skin until I saw my father's flesh through his legs. Then I saw something white as the creature ate through his flesh. His bones! My father was slowly dragged into the creature's mouth as it continued eating him from the waist down. His stomach disappeared inside the creature's mouth. Then his chest! His neck! And finally, his head. I watched in horror as his arms slowly slid inside the creature's mouth as his screams faded into a terrifying echo!


	6. Chapter 6

As Keith finally ended the clip, I gaped at him in horror. He stood there smiling at me menacingly.

"Y-y-you...you..." I stammered. I was just too horrified of what I just saw to even speak coherently at this point.

"That's right, Marco!" Keith said still smiling. "Your father was one of my victims! What you just saw was a strange dream sequence that I screwed around with to make him think he was crazy for a while. The part where he got swallowed in whole by yours truly was the final nail in the coffin for him - no pun intended - and in reality, he never woke up from his consciousness!"

"So you murdered my father?!" I shrieked in a horrified tone.

"I didn't murder him," Keith answered, his grin growing wider and wider. "It was his dream that murdered him! I just did the mind screw!"

"Huh?" My head began to ache with confusion.

"I've done this to countless people who were knocked out!" Keith continued. "Whenever I screw around in an unconscious individual's dream, I make sure they suffer a horrible fate so they never wake up from their consciousness! Before that, I made sure I get sadistic pleasure in screwing their minds to watch them go crazy before they meet their terrible fate. Every last one of my victims had met their fatal end, and they never woke up again! Nobody has escaped my psychological horror alive!"

"So you planned to do the same to me in my dream?!" I choked. Keith nodded.

"While I was having fun screwing around in your dreams," Keith continued, "it was at that moment where Gwynnie arrived at your bedroom that I decided to finish the job by having her turn inside out! Then I would claim another victim of this generation!" Keith then tossed his head back with an evil laughter.

My heart began to pound even harder. Keith was not only actually a _murderer! He was a complete monster!_ I suddenly felt sick! The part where Gwynnie turned inside out in my dream - she was actually about to kill me! Just the thought of what she was going to do to me in my dream after turning inside out had I not woken up in time just made me feel even sicker. I shut my eyes, trying to efface the sick thought out of my mind.

I then looked up to see Keith stare at me with that frighteningly creepy smile of his. His smile quickly faded

"You were lucky though, Marco," he told me. "Right after you gained consciousness while you were in the hospital, it somehow got me to exit your head. So I went back into your house and wrote a letter to you to remind you I'm still waiting for you. I knew you would eventually return home, Marco. I was waiting for you to return. I wanted to wait for the right moment. And now that you're here, I gave you a chance to take good care of me. But you broke your word. You broke my demands. And do you know what I'm going to do to you now?"

I shook my head. At this point, I wasn't even sure what Keith was about to do to me.

"I'm going to take over your body!" Keith answered maliciously. "I'm gonna possess your body and literally become you! Your life is mine!"

I watched in horror as he gradually opened his mouth very wide and his organs slowly sliding out of his mouth. I watched as he gradually spat out his lungs with throbbing, purple veins, his liver, his red kidneys, and finally, his heart. He has once again turned into a purple and yellow blob of organs - and he was now coming for me!


	7. Chapter 7

"I will be you now, Marco," Keith - inside out Keith - snarled. "I will take over your body and your life!"

The slimy creature closed in on me, clinging on to my feet. Luckily, I pulled my feet back and backed away. The disgusting yellow blob slowly motioned towards me. I could hear its squishy flesh squishing against the surface as it moved. A chunk of yellow slime trailed behind it. I didn't waste any time standing there. I quickly darted towards the steps and dashed up the stairs. I had just made my way to the basement door until I reached out and turned the knob. The door wouldn't open. For some reason, it was stuck shut. I turned the knob. I pulled with all my might. It was stuck. After I struggled to open it for ten seconds, I finally pounded on the door and called for help.

"Mom! Gwynnie!" I shouted trying to get my mom and sister's attention. "Help! I'm stuck in here! Please let me out!"

No reply. But my mom and sister not coming down to help me was the least of my worries. Because the slimy, yellow creature was now closing in on me as it reached the stairs. As it made its way up the stairs towards me, I pounded on the door even harder.

"Mom! Gwynnie! Please help me!" I continued shouting. Why couldn't my mom and sister hear me? Are they really this sound of sleepers to not hear me calling for them? As I continued pounding, the creature finally made its way on top and started to spread around my legs.

"Noooooooooooo!" I cried out as I struggled to extricate the slimy creature off of me.

But it stuck to my legs. So I banged the creature against the banister. It made a loud squishy sound as it slammed against the banister. It was too tenacious. it continued to stick on my legs and gradually climbed on my thighs. I continued to pound the creature against the banister. But it continued to climb on me, and as I continued to slam the creature against the banister, I began the tumble down the stairs, the creature making sporadic squishy sounds as it hit the steps while I rolled down the stairs. I hit the ground with a loud _THUD_ as I landed on the bottom.

As I lay on the ground on my back, I watched as the creature slowly crawled on my stomach. I quickly hopped onto my feet and struggled to get the slimy creature off of me.

I rolled around on the floor. I slammed the creature against the pool table. Against the dryer. Against the furnace. Each time, it made a loud squishy sound, like a wet sponge being squeezed. The creature continued to crawl on me, and to my horror, it began to expand. All over my body! Around my legs! Around my stomach!

It was as if I was wearing a janitor's suit. As the creature finally spread around my neck, I was now rendered immobile and crumpled to the linoleum floor. I couldn't move. I was now helpless. I could only watch hopelessly as the creature reached my chin. Keith was about to smother me! He was about to take over my body!


	8. Chapter 8

"Somebody help me!" I screamed desperately.

"Give up, Marco!" Keith growled as his body closed in to the bottom of my lip. "I told you - NOBODY HAS ESCAPED MY PSYCHOLOGICAL HORROR ALIVE!"

Keith was about to take control of my body, and Mom and Gwynnie haven't even heard me. I couldn't move. I couldn't get help. There was no way I could get out of this one. I could only watch as the smothering creature made its way to my chin. Its slimy skin felt like raw eggs warmed up. I always hated eating eggs sunny-side up. The fact that this was a creature smothering me instead only exacerbated my disgust. It was made worse by the strong odor of the creature. It smelled like spoiled milk. It was made worse by the fact that it was closer to my nose.

My head began to throb. It was probably the last pain I would feel for the rest of my life. And that's when I had an idea.

"Hey, Keith!" I told the creature. The creature stopped in surprise all of a sudden. "You said that you can control my mind, right?" I asked him.

"Yes," Keith answered with a gurgle.

"Well, I think I just figured out how I can get you out of my life for good!"

I shut my eyes tight and thought harder. My head began to throb some more. Suddenly, the creature began to loosen its grip and slowly slipped off of me.

"What's going on?" the creature asked in confusion.

 _Yes!_ I thought. _It's working!_ I thought harder as my head throbbed some more.

"Noooo!" I heard the creature cry out.

The harder I thought, the more my head throbbed. I didn't care about the pain. I knew that this was the only way I could save myself. I opened my eyes a little to watch the creature getting weaker as it limped to the floor.

 _It's working!_ I thought.

I had to keep it up. I shut my eyes again and continued thinking as the creature shouted in defeat.

"No, no, nooooooooooooooooo!" I heard the creature cry out as it got weaker and weaker.

Before I knew it, the creature's cries of defeat have faded away, and I quickly opened my eyes to see that the creature had completely vanished. All that was left on the ground were traces of yellow slime. I hopped onto my feet as I cheered in victory! I had did it! I had finally defeated Keith! He was now gone for good! My celebration didn't last very long though. I heard the basement door opened and I looked up as the light clicked on.

I saw Mom and Gwynnie walking down the stairs and staring at me as they finally made it to the bottom. Mom was wearing her blue robe while Gwynnie had on her purple pajamas and her thick, black hair covering one eye.

"Marco, what in the world are you doing down here this late at night?" Mom asked.

"It's one in the morning," Gwynnie moaned. "Why are you down here?"

"I finally figured it out!" I told them cheerfully.

"Huh?" Mom and Gwynnie asked confused.

"Mom, you know that boy Keith that was in my dreams?" I asked my mother.

"Oh, this Keith story again," Mom said rolling her eyes.

"Well," I continued, "I finally figured out why I could see him and not you or Gwynnie! You see, when I got hit on the head with a baseball bat on Thursday, I started having these weird dreams that Keith was calling me, and when I went to bed, I saw him in my room and he also turned into this disgusting yellow creature who tried to smother me. Then he tried to take over my body and my life! So he tried to smother me and I tried to call you for help! But you didn't show up. And then I realized that Keith wasn't real at all! He's only part of my imagination! He had the power to scare me psychologically. It was the throbbing pain in my head that caused him to enter my state of mind. It all makes sense now. Each time my head throbs, he comes back to my mind. So in order to defeat him, I had to literally use my throbbing mind to erase him from my existence for good, to let myself know that he's only all in my head! That's why no one else could see him but me! Because he plays tricks with my mind and has me believing I'm crazy! But I beat him in his game by thinking as him, and that's what defeated him!"

My mom and sister stared back at me for a few seconds, still looking rather confused to what I just told them. It was silent for a long while, and my mother and sister continued to stare at me. All that was heard was the silent wind through the basement.

Gwynnie broke the silence. "Yeah, that bat really messed up your head, bro," she sneered.

"Marco, are you sure you're feeling okay?" Mom asked me putting a hand on my shoulder.

"I'm fine, Mom," I told her.

"You sure, Marco?" she asked. "Do I have to call Dr. Bailey again to see what's wrong with you?"

"No, Mom," I protested. "I'm fine. I swear."

"You'll get into trouble for swearing," Gwynnie joked snickering. My sister loves to joke around with me.

"Gwynnie," Mom told her. She then turned to me. "Okay, Marco," she said gently patting my head. "Just get some rest. I don't want you to cause any more damage to your head, okay?"

"Okay, Mom," I replied.

"Good," Mom said. "Now come along and get back to bed."

She and Gwynnie headed up the stairs. I followed them along. My head still hurt, but I didn't care. I had figured how to get that boy Keith out of my life forever, and I was going to have a fresh start tomorrow. Boy, was I right!


	9. Chapter 9

I woke up feeling pretty good the next morning. My mom told me to stay in bed. She was sure I'd hurt myself and seriously crack open my skull. I didn't mind. I had waffles to eat in bed and got to watch television. I also started on the project Mrs. Mosely assigned me and the class on Friday. From everything that happened to me ever since my blow on the head, I knew exactly whose perspective I wanted to write my essay on. So I wasted no time as I started on my essay right away. Keith didn't appear on my computer screen this time. Nor did he call me. I felt very satisfied.

After I finished my essay, I also told Mom and Gwynnie everything that happened in my dream. I told them the whole story. About how I dreamed Gwynnie wasn't my sister and how she hit me on the head with a bat. I told them about how I hallucinated Keith calling me after I gained consciousness, and sitting on my bed. About how Gwynnie turned inside out. They were both shocked and confused at the same time. Mom told me that she was concerned about me and hope I would feel better by Monday.

She was right. In the next two days, I didn't have any more nightmares or any more hallucinations. I woke up Monday morning and took a nice, warm shower. When I got out, I brushed my teeth and dressed in a black-and-blue plaid shirt over baggy navy jeans. I decided that it was time for me to unravel the bandage off my head. I stared at the mirror and examined the right side of my head. I had a purple bruise on the side that shrunk in the size of a quarter. I let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't too bad. The rest of my head was its regular shape, and it no longer throbbed in pain.

I dashed downstairs to the kitchen to find Mom washing the dishes and Gwynnie sitting at the table eating her cereal.

"Don't run in the kitchen," Mom warned. "You'll break your hip!"

It was good to hear my mom warn me of ridiculous things again. I walked over to my mother and gave her a tight hug.

"I'm sorry I didn't heed your warnings, Mom," I told her.

She hugged me back. "It's okay, Marco," she told me softly, her voice trembling a bit. "I guess it's partly my fault for being overprotective of you. I guess I didn't wanted you to suffer the same fate your father suffered just months after your sister was born. He was hit on the temple with a baseball and never woke up from his unconsciousness. I was afraid the same would happened to you. I'm sorry for being so overprotective of you." She sobbed softly.

I let out a sigh of relief. I never would've guess my father was one of Keith's victims, and for my mother to tell me why she was treating me like a baby made me feel a little better. Mom then placed her hands on my shoulders and stared at me, her eyes wet with tears, which rolled down her cheeks.

"I promise I won't be so overprotective of you if you promise me you'll be much more careful next time, okay?" Mom told me wiping her eyes dry.

"Okay, Mom," I told her softly. "I'll be more careful this time."

"The important thing is that you're okay," Mom told me. "Now eat your breakfast. You don't want to go to school on an empty stomach. Your stomach will shrink in size and you won't be able to fit enough food inside." She walked out of the kitchen.

As Mom walked away, Gwynnie stared back and made sure Mom was gone. Then she stared at me with a determined look.

"What?" I asked.

Gwynnie stared at me for a few more seconds and hopped off the chair. She walked towards me, spread and wrapped her arms around me, and gave me a tight hug.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed. "I thought you said never to hug you again."

"I know," Gwynnie told me grabbing my arms as she faced me. "But just thinking about you getting hit on the head really made me cringe." Her voice gradually began to crack when she talked.

"When Jeremy came to our house and told me and Mom what he did," she continued, "we were horrified and ran to the baseball diamond just in time to find you lying on the grass unconscious."

She then turned away, and I saw that tears were falling from her eyes, some of them dropped to the kitchen floor.

"It was just so painful to see you being carried inside the ambulance on a stretcher," she sobbed softly. "I was just very worried about you when Mom and I were waiting in the waiting room hoping you would be okay. Those jokes that I made about you when you regained consciousness back at the hospital - t-they were just a put-on to hide how I truly felt about you after you got hit on the head, and in retrospect, I feel really bad for all those jokes I've made of you. I'm so sorry, Marco! I was just so scared I was going to lose you the same way we lost Dad!" Then she hugged me again and started sobbing.

She then face me, tears trailing down her eyes. "Listen, Marco," she choked out, her tears still running from her eyes, "I know we don't get along very often, but you're still my brother, and I love you." She hugged me once again sniffling.

"I love you too, Gwynnie," I replied and hugged my sister back.

"Awwwwww," we looked back to see Mom standing by the kitchen wall. "It warms my heart to see my two children getting along for once."

"Mom," Gwynnie whined rubbing her eyes. "Do you have to walk in on our conversations?"

"What, is it against the law to see my own children talking to each other?" Mom joked. "Finish your breakfast, kids. You don't want to be late for school."

Gwynnie and I ate our breakfast and headed on to school. Before we left, Mom had also told us she would make more pizza for dinner tonight. Mom's a really good chef. She never wants to take us out to eat. She thinks restaurants are contaminated. I liked Mom's homemade food better anyway.

At school, the other kids were staring at me in shock. They were all talking about the bruise on the side of my head.

"Whoa! That bruise looks ugly!" "Does it hurt?!" "You must have a really hard head!" "How long were you at the hospital?!" "You didn't lose your brain, did you?!"

Everyone made various comments of my head and how my injury affected me. They were all either very worried of me, made jokes about my hit on the head, or were glad to see that I was okay.

Even all my teachers showed genuine concern for me. They interrogated me, asking of the effects my head injury had on me. In Mrs. Mosely's class, she had each and every one of us present our essay in front of the class. I confidently presented mines and Mrs. Mosely was very impressed. She told me that writing about the perspective of a demon getting into another individual's mind to spread psychological fear in them was a unique concept and something very innovative. For that, she gave me an A+ on my assignment.

I felt good. After school, I walked alongside Jeremy down the street discussing our assignment. I couldn't wait to get home to show my mom my grade on my assignment.

"That was a great assignment, Marco," Jeremy told me. "I never would've thought of such an awesome concept like that on an essay."

"Thanks," I said. "It's based on a hallucination I've experienced after I got hit with the bat."

"You should get credit for that too, Jeremy," I heard Gwynnie call out and saw her with the other girls. "You did knock some sense into him."

I rolled my eyes. Same old Gwynnie. Always showing off in front of Jeremy as usual. She giggled as she walked across the street with the other girls.

"Your sister sure does get around a lot, doesn't she?" Jeremy asked.

"You have no idea," I said rolling my eyes. "I swear, it's tough being the only guy in the family. Mom's very overprotective, and Gwynnie has a hobby for teasing me. They're both family though, so I couldn't live without them."

"Yeah, I feel you, Marco," Jeremy replied. "I don't know how I would tolerate being the only guy in my family."

We then walked past the baseball diamond and watched the kids playing softball there.

"Hey, check it out," Jeremy said pointing at the baseball diamond. We watched as the bases were loaded and a boy was up next to bat.

"You want to watch?" he asked me.

"No thanks," I told him sounding slightly exasperated. "I don't think I ever want to play softball again."

"I feel you," Jeremy replied. "Let's go to your house and play some video games."

"I'd like that," I said. "Of course, we can only play at a limited amount of time."

Mom doesn't let me play video games for more than one hour. She told me I could get a seizure and sprain my fingers for playing for too long.

Before we turned to leave, we spotted a boy who hit the ball with a bat hard and another boy on second base get hit hard on the forehead, the impact of which caused him to fall to the ground. Jeremy and I cried out.

"That kid just got knocked out!" Jeremy cried out.

We dashed slightly closer to the diamond and got a closer look as the second-base boy lay there unconscious as the other kids began to gather towards him.

And to my surprise, I saw a familiar looking boy walk closer to him. A boy with wavy, dark hair, wearing black denim jeans and a blue flannel shirt. I recognized the boy. Keith! He had gotten closer to the second-base boy's face. I didn't want anything to do with Keith anymore. So I pulled Jeremy with me and began to walk away.

"C-come on, Jeremy," I urged him. "Let's go."

"But shouldn't we see if he's alright?" Jeremy asked.

"His t-t-teammates will get help," I said, my voice trembling. "L-l-let's go!"

"Okay," Jeremy said as he obediently started walking with me.

As we walked away, I turned to see Keith staring at the unconscious boy's face. "I hope you're feeling okay now, Adam," he told the unconscious boy. "I hope you'll heal eventually. Because I'll make sure you take good care of me. I live in your attic!"

 **The End**

* * *

Now I'm not sure how many people will agree with me if this was a good twist or not, but I think it's a better twist than the actual twist in the book. Again, I own nothing. This is for entertainment purposes.


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